Abstract:
Schoolteachers worldwide continue to encounter challenging behavior in their classrooms. As a
result, teacher preparation programs are receiving more scrutiny regarding how well they are
preparing their teacher candidates to effectively address challenging behavior especially in line
with the principles of whole schooling. The overarching purpose of this research was to identify
the extent to which pre-service teacher preparation programs in eight African countries provided
training in classroom and behavior management. The study was predicated on the premise of
accentuating the scope of the teacher preparation experience in addressing critical research
based features of classroom and behavior management. Curricula from 11 teacher preparation
institutions from across eight African countries were collected and analyzed to explore the extent
to which the programs were addressing research-based practices in classroom and behavior
management in the preparation of their teacher candidates. Results indicated that only three of
the programs offered courses that were specific to behavior and classroom management and
only one of the programs addressed some of the specific research-based practices—and very
minimally so. This study highlights the need to further examine teacher preparation programs in
the different countries with the goal to incorporate and promote research-based practices in
behavior and classroom management.
